VibeIQ, the first AI-native product decision platform for apparel and consumer goods, has announced $22.5 million in growth financing led by Volition Capital, with participation from existing investor Venture Guides. The platform gives merchandising, design, and product development teams one live view of the product line, connecting creative intent, commercial targets, margin, regional adoption, and downstream status.
VibeIQ raises $22.5M led by Volition Capital with Venture Guides participation.
Platform for apparel, footwear, and consumer goods brands including New Balance, Vera Bradley, Converse, and Kizik.
Embedded AI helps teams identify gaps, duplication, trade-offs, and margin risk.
Customers have reduced planned SKUs and eliminated thousands of hours of manual work.
Funding supports product investment, integrations, team expansion, and growth.
Volition Capital has $1.7B+ AUM; Venture Guides specializes in infrastructure software and AI.
Consumer brands have systems for design, financial planning, product development, and selling, but no system owns the critical decisions made before development begins. Choices about what belongs in the line, why a product is moving forward, which trade-offs were made, and how creative intent connects to commercial targets still happen across disconnected documents. Once products move into development, much of that context is lost. As AI accelerates concept and asset creation, that gap becomes more consequential: brands can create more options faster without a shared way to decide what should move forward or preserve the context behind those decisions throughout the product lifecycle. VibeIQ gives teams one live view of the product line, connecting creative intent, commercial targets, margin, regional adoption, and downstream status.
VibeIQ is trusted by multibillion-dollar companies and emerging brands, including New Balance, Vera Bradley, Converse, and Kizik. Embedded AI helps teams identify gaps, duplication, trade-offs, and margin risk, so they can decide what moves forward, changes, or gets cut before development and sourcing commit cost. Customers have reduced planned SKUs, gained visibility months earlier, and eliminated thousands of hours of manual work. The platform works alongside PLM, planning, and enterprise systems, carrying approved product decisions into execution without losing the context behind them.
"AI is making product creation faster, but speed alone does not produce a better product line," said Brian Lindauer, founder and CEO of VibeIQ. "Brands need shared creative and commercial context to decide what should exist, what should change, and what gets cut. VibeIQ helps teams make those decisions before development begins, preserve the reasoning behind them, and carry that context forward as products move toward market. This investment will allow us to deepen those capabilities and bring them to more product categories and teams."
"AI is creating an opportunity to fundamentally transform how consumer brands make product decisions," said Roger Hurwitz, Managing Partner at Volition Capital. "VibeIQ has built a category-defining platform that gives retail teams a shared decision layer for determining what moves forward, what changes, and what gets cut before significant cost and complexity enter the process. Brian Lindauer and the team have combined deep domain expertise with exceptional execution to address mission-critical challenges for their customers. We're excited to support the company's next phase of growth."
"Our investment reflects our confidence in both the team and the enormous market opportunity ahead," said Ben Nye, Managing Partner at Venture Guides. "VibeIQ enables customers to make better product decisions while avoiding unnecessary cost, complexity and delay. We're proud to partner for this next phase of accelerating growth."
About VibeIQ
VibeIQ is the product decision platform for apparel, footwear, and consumer goods brands and private-label retailers. It gives merchandising, design, planning, product development, and regional teams one live view of the product line, connecting creative intent with commercial context so they can decide what moves forward before unnecessary cost, complexity, and margin risk build downstream. VibeIQ works alongside PLM, planning, and enterprise systems, carrying approved product decisions into execution without losing the context behind them.
About Volition Capital
Volition Capital is a Boston-based growth equity firm that principally invests in high-growth, founder-owned companies across the software, internet, and consumer sectors. Founded in 2010, Volition has over $1.7 billion in assets under management and has invested in and/or provided sub-advisory advice to more than 60 companies. The firm selectively partners with founders to help them achieve their fullest aspirations for their businesses.
About Venture Guides
Venture Guides is an early-stage venture capital firm investing in infrastructure software, cybersecurity, data, and AI. Venture Guides employs a unique, team-based investment approach with a focus on a concentrated portfolio of companies. Their "guiding" extends beyond capital, offering strategic support for areas like go-to-market execution, product management, talent recruitment, and AI implementation.
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